| Session Date | February 09, 2019 |
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| Base XP Gained | 1000 |
The next morning, after a night in the dungeons below the Brigand ruins, the party decided to interrogate their brigand prisoner regarding the sword that they'd taken from Ranger Winfrith. With Iban having cast ESP, this led to some confusion. The Brigand insisted that Fasanorn had the same sword he'd had since he'd known him. Yet, when Iban scryed with his crystal ball for the sword, all was dark. Still, it was all rather moot as the brigands had clearly fled deep into the Empty Quarter and were not much of an immediate threat to Grilbie. Calidor, the other ranger, had some news for the party. Based on his expertise, he said, he was fairly certain that he was inflicted with Lycanthropy. That, on top of the energy drain from the Wights (2 levels!), he felt he needed to depart for Four Friths immediately. There, he hoped, a friendly prelate would be able to cure the Lycanthropy. However, he had only three days to get there and the distance was 50 leagues or more, in frigid wilderness. The party discussed some possibilities for helping him, including flying him south for a long distance, getting a horse from Grilbie (teleportation was no longer an option because of Cadwallider losing a level to the same Wights). In the end, they decided to loan the Ranger their Goat of Travel. It would easily get him there within three days, providing he was not waylaid en route. After turning him invisible, the Ranger sped off on the goat, thanking the party profusely, promising to return the Goat as he now owed them a great debt of gratitude. He would seek word of them in Grilbie, or possibly the dwarf kingdom.
The party now returned to Grilbie without incident, arriving in the afternoon to find the Dwarves and townsfolk very busy improving defenses, building shelters for the dwarf garrison, and the like. After turning over their prisoner to the Dwarves, the party returned to the Inn of the Bountiful Harvest where they rested for a few days to recover form their recent adventures. During this time, they scryed various figures, including Nali who they found to be reading what appeared to be reports and with a concerned look on his face (Iban could not really read those reports but gathered that they dealt with "orcs and giants." Except for some general camaraderie with the Dwarves, their stay was uneventful except for one thing -- ZZ had a vision or prompting from his god to return to the dwarf city. As this was already their general plan, they soon departed, telling the folk of Grilbie that they would be returning at some point (the locals were quite pleased by the prospect).
They journeyed with little incident, spotting a few brigands en route but avoiding contact. They scryed on Calidor (safely in Four Friths now) and the brigand chief (in a cold, miserable wilderness camp with an unhappy look). Finally, after many weeks, they passed into the Dwarf Kingdom and thence by underground roads to Kazakh once more. Their staff was happy to see them (they needed money) and soon Nali appeared, even before they thought to send for him. he brought a wooden box under his arm which was opened to reveal 4 gold chains with small plaques attached, badges of office to go with their ranks of Sub-Altern in the Army. Nali informed them that they were not assigned any duties beyond reporting directly to him; he laid no charge on them and seemed content to let the party do as they would, so long as they continued to provide him information. This they did, filling him more fully on the brigand situation. Talk then turned to activity to the north with the Giant King. That one had, Nali reported, sent an ultimatum to the lords of Manston, demanding they surrender to him by spring or risk brutal conquest. The party asked what might happen, but Nali said he was unsure if the Dwarves would intervene. The Giant King's forces were between the Kingdom and Manston, after all. To their question on the Elves, he knew not their intentions, either. They were exceptionally loathe to leave their woodlands for war, but Manston was on their doorstep, so it was anyone's guess how they would react. The party also told Nali about ZZ's sense that he needed to return to the city. This got his attention, though he could not say why. He foreboded trouble, however, and reiterated yet again that many troubles seemed to have beset the norther dwarf kingdom and he doubted that the were wholly random. Watchfulness and concern were what he felt now. Iban asked about the status of the dungeon the party had explored near the city. Nali replied that they kept a permanent watch there, but all had been quiet and nothing untoward had happened. He reminded them that he had entered that dungeon with a small party himself and found it terribly disturbing. With that, Nali departed.
The party spent a few days relaxing in their comfortable quarters (and no doubt harassing all the lame-ass adventurers lounging around there and NOT ADVENTURING). During this time, they took an interest in the tapestry of the elf maid they'd acquired previously. It radiated a strong magic but Identify would tell them nothing of it. An Augury and Divination spell were also inconclusive. They also convinced the slacker Havok to cast commune to ask seven questions: Q1 - Is ZZ's vision related to an issue in Kazakh where the party should intervene? YES Q2 - Would the evil become apparent if they simply waited? YES Q3 - Were there specific preparations they could take? NO Q4 - Should they wait elsewhere than their quarters? NO Q5 - Would it be beneficial to cast dispel magic on the tapestry? NO (but not a hard "no") Q6 - did they need to take action on the tapestry? NO Q7 - Did Fasanorn the brigand chieftain hide the sword taken from Winfrith? NO
The next day, their third since arriving back in Kazakh, there was a tremendous pounding on their door. A Dwarf soldier shouted at them that there was something going on to the north of the city and their presence was needed. The non-slacker adventurers ran quickly to the north gate to find a force of seven score Dwarf soldiers form the garrison preparing to march out. Nali was also there and told them quickly that their watch on the nearby dungeon had been attacked by a large number of orcs and other monsters. The force marched out of the city gate, which closed behind them. It was only a few miles to the dungeon, but they moved slowly and methodically. The force soon reached the wooded area that choked the valley approach to the dungeon. The force moved through without incident to emerge in a wider area free of tress. On a low hill in the center of the clearing was a group of about 40 Orcs and 8 Ogres, enough to have overwhelmed the watch post. This group seemed to be inviting attack, though they did not move forward or back. Iban cast protection from normal missiles and began shouting at the Orcs and Ogres in many languages, but received no reply. The Dwarves were hot to attack, but Nali restrained them, ordering them to listen to the party. Cadwallider, now invisible, cast fly and buzzed off to scout the woodlands on the other side of the valley. Sure enough, he spotted movement in not one, but two areas beyond. Returning, he reported that the Orcs before them were clearly bait for a trap. The Dwarves were still eager to attack, but remained disciplined. (My notes and brain are a bit sketchy -- I think Cadwallider prompted the fight by magic missiling a hill giant, which got things going). The Dwarves realized they were badly outnumbered and prepared to retreat as all hell broke lose. However, Cadwallider used his wand of illusion to make it look as if a dwarf force was going to flank the enemy. This brought out the enemy and opened them up to a follow-up fireball.The two enemy forces that had been waiting to pounce came forth to attack. In one, a hill giant began to hurl rocks (one blasted through the protection from missiles to hit Iban), though he was slain by a lightning bolt. Despite the magical support, the enemy force clearly badly outnumbered the Dwarves. Nali ordered a retreat, which would be covered by Iban blowing his Horn of Valhalla and ZZ his horn of the Earth Dragon (ZZ, pay up!). These forces provided a sufficient screen for the retreating Dwarves (and soon joined by a Jackal were summoned by Cadwallider's wand). The southern on the two forces that had come out was led by a hooded figure, who proved to be a spellcaster when he blasted Iban with a lightning bolt. However, the party and Dwarf force escaped intact back to Kazakh.
Back in the city, Nali was livid, shouting that this was war with the Giant King. As more of the city's garrison was already mustered, Nali was ready to rush back out to attack. However, the party counseled caution, as they wanted to rest to recover spells and such. They further told Nali that he needed to counter a powerful wizard, to which he vociferously replied that "I have you two!" (Iban and Cadwallider). Cooling down slightly, Nali slipped more into his normal persona of cool and collected. The Hooded Figure concerned the party, as they'd heard talk of such a one before, though knew nothing of him or her. The danger clearly came form the dungeon, they realized, and that was where the party thought they should go. Thinking through this, they suggested to Nali that, when the inevitable fight happened (tomorrow?), the party use the distraction to slip into the dungeon to figure out what was going on. Nali agreed, though it was clear he did not want to lose his magical support. however, he said that his forces could deal with this horde of monsters. In any case, the King would certainly be sending a larger force north very soon. If these were the forces of the Giant King, it would be war. In fact, finding out if they were was his top priority. The Dwarves would shut their gate and sally forth the next day to do battle...they were not going to let a horde of monsters run loose in their kingdom!